It strikes me sometimes that a lot of people are incapable of holding two or more competing ideas in their head at the same time. Or that many are unwilling to do so. I had an exchange recently with RTÉ Director General, Kevin Bakhurst, at an Oireachtas Committee, over RTÉ’s decision to boycott the Eurovision…
It was ill-judged of the Department of Housing to produce a video tutoring young people how to behave if they have to move back into the parental home. And rightly, it had to be withdrawn when it produced a stream of negative feedback – including rebounding on the young people who were featured on the…
Farming in faith means seeing the land not as a burden but as a blessing says Marie Louise Heffernan When I walk the hill with my husband in the morning, the air is sharp and the light low over the mountains. We move slowly, checking fences and the cattle grazing the heather slopes. The lambs…
In the physiotherapy room at the Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Amman, Jordan, Iyad (17, Palestine) is laughing as he is passing a football with his friend Hossam (21, Iraq). It’s part of Iyad’s physiotherapy session. “It helps me a lot when Hossam joins,” says Iyad. “We joke a lot, but we…
When we pick up a book written approximately 1500 years ago, the differences between an ancient culture and our own can stand out; indeed, we often approach such a book assuming that there will be more differences than similarities. For example, if we are reading Confessions slowly and carefully, we may ponder such contrasts as…
When we think about the legacy we will leave behind, it’s not just about material possessions—it’s about the values we hold dear: love, compassion, and care for those most in need. One of the most profound ways to live those values beyond our lifetime is by making a will and considering a legacy gift to…
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel Matt 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.…
The brave Catholics of Holy Family Parish turn to Jesus, Mary and Joseph this Christmas and always, writes Michael Kelly or the first time in three years, the Christians of Gaza decorated their Christmas trees with a cautious hope for more peaceful times. Hope is always tempered by caution in Gaza. They’ve been here before,…
Be remembered for continuing Sr Stan’s vision of hope for a kind, loving future… Dear The Irish Catholic reader, Take a moment to step back in time with me and reflect on Sr Stan’s life and legacy. Sr Stan was born Treasa Kennedy on June 19, 1939, near Lios Póil on the Dingle Peninsula.…
The Christmas Season is by long-established tradition, the season when most books are bought in every civilised centre. The books bought need not themselves be civilised, but they must have some suitable connection with the time of year and the seasonal feelings that it arouses. Books, it is so often said, “make a nice present”.…
Senator Ronan Mullen
Mary Kenny
Michael Kelly
Peter Costello